Whether you’re one of those people who has to have the radio on at work, an audiophile who lives life with a constant soundtrack running through their head or just a casual listener, amidst the sea of MySpace and Facebook bands it can be incredibly difficult to keep up with new bands – nevermind rediscover worthy listens from years past.
Thinking about how we learn about music new and old, we at The Sound realized that there’s nothing quite as helpful or interesting as a personal recommendation. So each Monday we’ll be posting a different playlist from one of our journalists as a suggestion – a “hey, check this out!” to our readers. Along with each playlist we’ll also provide you a little more information about one of the artists featured, because everyone loves a backstory.
Feel free to comment about the featured artists each week, or even suggest bands of your own!
SoundTracks kicks off this week with a playlist maestro’d by Sarah Culver, queen of The Sound’s “6 Degrees of Sound” project with a featurette on her leadoff artist, Active Child. Enjoy!
Artist Spotlight: Active Child 
ACTIVE CHILD is the new project from choirboy-turned-indie pop musician Pat Grossi. His debut collection of songs features the skilled use of various 80s-tinged synths to create ethereal, soaring soundscapes, punctuated by crisp electronic drum samples and handclaps. All of this lays the groundwork for Grossi’s exquisite vocals, which, with their unearthly sound and evocative lyrics, take on an enchanting, hymnal quality that would not be out of place amongst the richly colored sunlight of a church’s stained-glass interior.
ACTIVE CHILD’s songs are an intriguing study in contrast. The organic elements of Grossi’s angelic vocals and the occasional delicate strumming of a harp cast light on the eerie darkness created by the haunting synths and cavernous reverberating of percussion.
Grossi cites the musical environment in his childhood home as an early inspiration for his own desire to make music. After participating in a school choir as a child, he joined the Philadelphia Boys Choir at age 10. The influence of chorale singing, along with the sensibility of non-secular music, is as apparent in ACTIVE CHILD’s work as the influence of 80s synth pop bands like New Order, Joy Division and Tears for Fears.
Read/listen/learn more at ActiveChildMusic.com
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Love this feature! You guys are doing great things! Can’t wait to dig in a listen to some new tunes.